2016: Passing the Buck, first quarter

My son Nick and I often discuss the news. What follows is the first of a four-part poem based on the world we live in in 2016.

Passing the Buck, First Quarter

2016 has just begunWe all look forward to the funNo time for sadness and the bluesJust don’t tune in to the news
1. January
Dubai, seven floors consumed
Manipur, 6.7, fire of a Volcano loomed.
Malheur, Washington, crazy Bundys.
Dow plummets, damn Chinese securities.
David Bowie ends his stint
Water poisoned here in Flint
Sailors taken in Iran
Then we lose Alan Rickman.
Taiwan has a woman president
Chipotle closes, attempts to circumvent
Malheur they forgot the snacks,
Bernie’s sticking to the facts
Three-hundred slain in Syria—
can’t figure out the criteria.
Nuclear deal in Iran;
UK debates a Trump ban.
Why, oh why, Glenn Frey
Pakistan University twenty-one die.
We got Jihadi John
School shooting in Canada, four more gone.
Evidence beyond Pluto;
How much farther can we go?
NFL’s Kathryn Smith is heard.
Flint lead poisoning, blizzards.
Cruz, Trump, Bush—
Someone has to push.

Moffat leaves; Jonas-blizzard, snow.
Panthers will play the Broncos
Deadly virus, Zika warning
One dies in Bundy standoff in the morning.
Hillary’s email—
Republicans are on her trail.

One month down, 11 moreWho is even keeping score?With so much loss and little gainHow do you numb the pain?
2. February
The Groundhog sees no shadow
Zika found in Texas and Mexico.
North Korea goes long range,
Militaries rearrange.
Rand, Santorum out–they lost.
Obama speaks in a mosque.
Cosby rapes attorney says
Hillary! Bernie! Pick the next prez.
Broncos win the super bowl
VW compensates for their deceptive role.
Umberto Eco, Sonny James, Harper Lee
Maurice White, George Kennedy
Malheur days at forty-one.
They’re not good guys with guns.
Who ya gonna dump?
Trump, Trump, Trump.
Gravity moves in waves.
Einstein’s theory has been saved
Camilla must talk.
Sirhan won’t walk.
Two dead in Arizona high school shooting.
Anthony Scalia dies, justice now gets rebooting.
Six die in Kalamazoo.
Thoughts and prayers it’s what we do.
Climate change, it isn’t real
Cyclone Winston, six lives it steals.
Senate vows no new Justice–
We know the law, just trust us.
Nepal plane crash claims twenty-one
At least this month is almost done
Thirty-six lost in Russian mine
Leap day makes it 29.Two months down, just 10 moreWho is the voice for the poor?What will be the final costWhen we tally all we’ve lost
3. March
Super Tuesday, they need your vote.
Transgender win South Dakota, don’t gloat
Mr. Kelly comes home.
Feds unlock the shooter’s phone
Emails, emails. Voter fraud
The system is so flawed
SpaceX. Zika babies. O.J.’s knife.
What’s the cost of human life?
Tony Dyson makes droids no more
Nuns in Yemen, they killed four
President Reagan’s gone–
Nancy, not Ron
Mr. Trudeau goes to Washington.
Doubt he’s having any fun
In 2018 we’ll have women on money,
A little piece of eutony.
Referendum Brexit
18 England would never exit.
Dr. Luke and Kesha–rape
Record deal, such red tape
Trump, Kasich will end in sadness
Who’s your pick in March Madness?
Don’t forget to set your clock.
Merrick Garland will be blocked
Nigeria mosque, twenty-two dead.
Remember when we worried who’d be fed?
Ballistic missiles, North Korea sanctioned
It seems a hollow action.
Syrian migrant crisis.
They just want to escape Isis
Obama goes to Cuba.
Someone hacked to death a monk of Buddha
Pope Francis is on Instagram.
Who really gives a damn?
Thirty-two die at Belgian airport
We’re a world without accourt.
Tennessee anti-transgender bill dies,
In North Carolina it still flies
San Francisco takes a stand
Boycott Tar Heels is what they planned
Keith Emerson, Jim Harrison, Patty Duke
All these deaths can’t be a fluke
Seventy Christians die in Lahore
When will we say no more?Three months down, we’re left with nineWho is next to cross the line?We can’t be lazyThis is getting crazy!

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